Early Risers
by Neo-Pop
Summary: He doesn't have to worry that much; it was only for a couple of shells after all. One-shot, sort of a drabble.


Beads of moisture clung to her calves, attracting the sleek fabric she wore like a hummingbird to a sweet syrup. Damp soil stuck between her toes as well as some other places, varying from her arms and legs. Her breath was a tad unsteady, but perhaps that was due to her lack of exercise. Her knuckles hurt a bit, and she had bonked her head once or twice on an unsuspecting rock, but other than that she was alright. Wide awake, that's for sure! She let herself drop to the next elevated surface, pausing to fill her needy lungs with the salty sea air.

Everything was set in a peaceful atmosphere. Eager waves attempted to haul themselves onto the dark indigo rocks below her, and stairs were just beginning to blink out of sight. Her footsteps made small splashing noises as she carefully marked out her path in the dark, hand on the gritty earthen wall for balance. Soon the inky black of a sky would burst into color, visions of bright citrus and violet tearing across the sky in some sort of fantastical wildfire.

He'd be up soon. Actually, Jane wouldn't be surprised if he was already making rounds. This was around the time he'd be up and ready to run. He might be tossing Jake over his shoulder and hauling him to the nearest spot of water just as she conjured these thoughts.

Wisps of mist swirled around her ankles as she hopped from one rock to the lowest, edging away from her landing spot. Minuscule pebbles dug into the flesh underneath her feet, but it could have pained her less. Dropping to her knees, she let out a deep breath of triumph; she made it without falling to the waves below!

Cautiously she peered over the edge of her perch, a finger lurking on the rim of her spectacles in case they decided now was a good time for a swim.

Aaah yes there they were. Her sleuthing skills were nowhere near a deteriorating stage. What with all this knowledge pent up inside her noggin she could solve about any mystery the world (or Roxy) had to hurl at her.

That, or find the nearest source of shells to add to their collection. Hey, finding the best shells worthy for glossing wasn't exactly an easy task; you had to really map out the locations of sea life to even find a speck of a worthy shell. And it was as much excitement as she got in weeks. A collection wasn't exactly going to fill itself, not unless they began trekking upon land themselves. (Free of a crustacean that is.)

Oh— Oh wait. She squinted at the horizon. Aaah, the first sign of daylight was approaching. She could spot orange wisps tangling themselves into the bleeding ebony now. Around this time, she too would be awakening from slumber if she weren't lingering here now. She'd probably be yanking the blankets off of Roxy and coaxing her from her bed with the promises of a good morning.

The sun wasn't the only thing casting off a source of light now; some of the rocks in the caverns behind her were beginning to shimmer. The luminescent fish that swam close to the surface were also visible. A feast for the eyes, as Jake would call it. She could envision him twirling a pistol around his index finger in some sort of complicated maneuvers.

_"You have to rise and shine real early to witness a sky this spiffy."_

…Thinking about it, Jake would surely be up now, either spluttering as Dirk held him in a headlock in ice water, or springing about the clearing, most likely eager for a good day of spelunking. That boy and adventure, good gracious.

It struck her that they'd probably wandered into her living space to rouse her from sleep, only to find her absent. She bit her lip absentmindedly as she dipped her free hand below the surface of the sea. Perhaps she hadn't woken up early enough. Someone was bound to notice her absence sooner or later. And that someone was most likely—

"Jane."

_Dirk._

She could almost feel his voice collide with the clothes on her back as she jumped out of her skin. Should've known that he'd sense her absence right away. Chap was sharper than the edges of that katana hooked to his belt. Trying to sneak past him was like trying to coax Lil' Sebastian to sit still. It just couldn't happen. She turned her body to face him, wiping the earth from her knees hurriedly.

She wasn't exactly sure if her were staring her down accusingly, or looking elsewhere; it was difficult to tell, what with his shades and all. But his body language practically oozed with authority and stern disapproval, arms crossed tightly and feet planted firmly on the rock where she had stood upon not too long ago.

Alright, she'll admit it mentally for now, she should have popped in and told him where she was heading. She wasn't exactly awake enough to recall all the tabs he kept on her and the rest of their gang. Poor guy was probably worried sick. She offered him a small smile.

Yep, the lack of a response besides a slight scowl definitely confirmed the hypothesis. Her smile evaporated into a wince. Ha, she was in soooooo much trouble.

He descended beside her, an action that would have been missed if she had closed her eyes for a brief moment and should have made some sort of noise. Yeah, she should probably stand. She hoisted herself to her feet on wobbly legs, smoothing the flowing material of her skirt. Yep, she knew for a fact now that he was indeed staring her down behind those seclusive shades, probably sizing up the amount of mud that stuck to her arms and legs. He lacked even a speck of filth, revealing that he had found her without any hint of the obstacles she encountered. Climbing down the face of a cavern was anything but a walk through the park. Well, for anyone besides Dirk and Jake. And Roxy.

…Gosh darn it.

He slowly gestured to the cavern with his right arm, and after emphasizing its presence, pointed to the now colored sky. A slight breeze caressed their hair, causing her to shiver. Finally he rested his hands on his hips and cleared his throat. Now she could speak, right, explaining, go go go.

"Uh… Good morning." _Nailed it. _

Oh wait, scratch that, he just sorta scowled some more. Try two is a go;

"Lovely morning for a climb, am I right? The rocks aren't too moist… Uh, the suns' just rising, golly will you look at that sky, ain't it something pretty? Belongs in my living room. Pretty sure we'll see Jake moseying about soon!"

Yeah, judging from his lack of expression he wasn't buying it. After a moment of listening to the waters crash upon the rocks he spoke up.

"What are you doing." His voice was quiet, yet the sting of quelled fury did not fall upon deaf ears. Oh yeah, he was mad.

"Well, I was just, y'know, exploring and such. Getting shells and what not. Not so bad, right?" He nonchalantly flicked a finger towards the water.

"High tide is in twenty minutes." Slooowly those arms of steel crossed once more. "But I suspect you knew that."

Actually she didn't. Whoa, she almost had herself in trouble there. …But dealing with a high tide sounded slightly more appealing right around now.

…He probably read her mind, because he was nodding a tad.

"How did you know I came down here?"

"Instinct."

"…Did I really make that much of a racket?"

"Jane, you tend to get yourself into more dangerous situations than Jake, it'd be an event for the history books to find you out and about in a safe location without us." Ouch. He had a point. She wished he'd tap his foot or something to break the tension; the whole frozen without emotion thing was a little nerve-wracking, even if it was a common feature for him. It just seemed to make the fact that he was really upset with her a little more obvious. "What if we found you half drowned up on the shore? Or worse, how do you think Roxy would feel?" Oh gosh, she'd probably fall to pieces. Way to make her feel bad, Striders' racking up some serious points all up in this place. "And where's your Strife specibus. Not here? Jesus fuck _Jane." _

"Okay you know what, what kind of creature would be blundering about this early in the morning?"

"Let's hope we never know, it's a relief to find that you still aren't aware of what's walking around. Keep it that way, alright?"

"Right." Another long pause. The sun was partially visible now, what was left of the dark skies shying away from its beams of luminous light. ".. I take it that you won't let me off the hook next time?"

"Damn straight." He lowered his glasses slightly to peer at her from over their edge. Part of her cringed away while the other wanted to lean forward and study them out of curiosity. It wasn't often she saw his eyes, even if they were ablaze with accusation. "There won't _be _a next time."

Well when he put it like _that—_

_"_Three minutes to get your shells before I haul you back up these rocks. Time starts now." It took her a moment to digest his statement before it seemed to punch her in the face. She came here for something, right, gosh darn it, she was really starting to waste time; not to mention there was a, what did he call it _ah right, a tide. _They tend to pose a problem here and there. _Oh sure NOW he was tapping his foot. _

She loved him loads, she really did but he really knew how to punch her buttons. He turned his back on her to study the surroundings as she dropped to her knees once more, hurriedly digging through the lukewarm sand.

As soon as she had deposited some rather vivid shells into the intricate folds of her skirt pocket, she turned to draw Dirk's attention, only to once again be startled by his sudden closeness. Good gosh, why did he have to make little to no noise, it was really becoming a problem for her sanity!

Callused fingers wound their way across her back and drummed once on her should before giving it a ginger squeeze. His face held a steady poker face for only a moment longer before he broke into a half smile.

"Don't do that again." Stupid infectious smiles, blast him!

Not really though. It gave her a sense of relief. Her recklessness only dampened his mood for perhaps a good fifteen minutes at best. Such a good guy.

"Sorry. Next time I'll leave you a note?"

"Nah, kick me out of bed if you have to. Waking up twenty minutes earlier won't kill me." He paused, lost in thought before speaking again. "Might kill Roxy though." She couldn't help but burst into a small fit of laughter.

"Yeah, she'd probably lay face down on the ground before we pop open a bottle of vodka."

"Don't say that, she's trying to get out of the whole drinking habit. Bake something instead, that'll get her up and running." He turned and gripped the edge of a higher stone, paused, and briefly backtracked, offering her his hand. She took it gratefully, fitting her slender fingers through the gaps between his. He squeezed it momentarily before hauling her back to the top of the cliff, almost as though she were no lighter than a feather.


End file.
